David C. Korten
Author, Lecturer, Engaged Citizen

Welcome to DavidKorten.org

 NEWS FLASH!!

Agenda II CoverAdvanced copies of
2nd edition of "Agenda for a New Economy"
now on sale at
YES! Bookstore 

Visit David Korten's new YES! Magazine Blog

We humans are Creation's most daring experiment with reflective consciousness, the source of our distinctive capacity to choose our future as an intentional collective act. For some 5,000 years, we have used this capacity foolishly at an enormous cost to ourselves and to other living beings. This is our time to take the step to a new level of species maturity and demonstrate our ability to act with collective wisdom and foresight.

It is what Thomas Berry called the Great Work. Many millions of people are contributing to its realization.  

The Path to a New Economy

For much of my adult life I have been embarked on a quest to understand the institutional sources of human dysfunction and map a pathway to positive change. Beginning with the launch of When Corporations Rule the World in 1995, my most widely read books have addressed the dysfunctions of a global economic system that values money more than life.
 
For all the tragic pain created by the recent financial collapse, it is in the larger view a blessing as it demonstrates so conclusively that the economy we came to collectively worship as an engine of perpetual wealth creation was nothing more than an illusion based on massive fraud and self-deception. The first edition of Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth exposed the truth and outlined a path to a new real wealth economy.
 
The second edition. which is substantially revised and expanded by a hundred pages, reflects a year and a half of additional intensive work to deepen and update the analysis and provide a more coherent and fully developed agenda for action. You can follow my New Economy blog on the YES! Magazine site. See also the ongoing YES! web feature "Path to a New Economy." It is issued as a report of the New Economy Working Group (NEWGroup), a partnership of the Institute for Policy Studies in DC (IPS), YES! magazine, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), and the PCDForum. I am co-chair with John Cavanagh of IPS.
 
Since the launch of NEWGroup in late 2008, we have been engaged in further developing the analysis and action agenda for a life-serving New Economy. As of mid-2010, we have been turning our attention to working with a broader range of partners on popular education, media outreach, and supporting policy action.   
 

The Great Turning

The larger framework by which I understand the nature of the challenge before us is summarized in my article "The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community" in the Summer 2006 issue of YES! and in my book of the same name. See also my web essay "The Great Turning: Epic Passage."  .

We can change the human course by changing the framing stories of our dominant culture. The prevailing Empire stories celebrate the individualism, violence and greed that express the pathologies of our collective human immaturity, while denying the potentials for community, love, and nurturing service that define our more mature human nature. The turning from Empire to Earth Community depends on changing these stories through conversations that make public the transformative inner wisdom we posses as individuals. Institutional change will follow naturally.

The companion website, Navigating the Great Turning, offers a rich source of ideas and resources for Great Turning Navigators who are working to turn the culture by changing its framing stories.

 

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Author Information

You can find all the usual author information on this website, including my calendar of speaking events, books currently in print, video links, recent articles and talks, biographical information, and organizational affiliations. My base organization is the People-Centered Development Forum, which is the legal home of the Great Turning Initiative. Personal Journey tells the story of the intellectual journey that informs my current work as author, lecturer, and engaged citizen.

Tools

If you are looking for tools to organize a Great Turning event, facilitate a Great Turning discussion or workshop , or want to know what others are doing to spread the Great Turning message you will likely find what you are looking for on the Great Turning website. For a broad range of tools and resources for getting involved in most any aspect of living Earth Community into being see the YES! magazine Action Resource Center.

If you are interested in a particular term take a look in the Glossary where you will find my decoding of key Empire words and some of the contributions of the Great Turning Initiative to developing a vocabulary for those who are charting a human course to a world that works for all. I regret that I cannot respond to individual questions or participate in individual dialogues, but you may find answers to your question in “Frequently Asked Questions." For inquiries my availability for speaking engagements or media interviews, please use the contact form.

Using This Site

This site is under continuing development. Use the syndication button on the left sidebar to receive notices when I post new content.

Unfortunately, abuse by automated spammers who breeched our sign on defense has forced me to disable the comment function. If you sign up for your periodic Great Turning Newsletter, be assured that your information will not be used for any other purpose and will not be shared with anyone without your express permission.

I hope you will find ideas and content on this website useful in advancing your work and understanding. Content that is not specifically attributed to someone else, is probably mine and you have my permission to reproduce and share it with proper attribution as you like. I believe that ideas are the common heritage of the species and should be freely shared in the ongoing process of deepening our collective knowledge and capacity. My work builds on the work of countless others, as I hope your work may build on mine. 

My thanks to Sam Rose and socialsynergyweb.com for technical support in creating 
this website and to Kevin Audleman for technical support in maintaining it. 11/24/09